Crossroads
by Vee017
Summary: What if Jack and Elizabeth had met before? Before Port Royal, before the Wench became the Pearl…Gen with later, future Sparrabeth. Spoilers for AWE.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Crossroads  
Author: Vee017  
Genre: AU, Gen (Chapter 1), Romance (Chapter 2)  
Setting: 14 years before DMC. 1 year before Jack loses everything.  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: What if Jack and Elizabeth had met before? Before Port Royal, before the Wench became the Pearl…

At nine years old Elizabeth Swann was not afraid of anything. She could climb the highest trees, fight with any of the boys, and pick up the scariest of spiders.

It didn't matter how many times her governesses scolded her for ripping her dresses and coming into the house caked in mud and dirt, or how often they screamed at the innocent bugs that crawled out of Elizabeth's pockets

It was silly how scared they got over something so small. They chastised her about not being ladylike. But if ladylike was tea, and sitting, and screaming; then she didn't want to be a lady! Not ever!

It wasn't fun and she wasn't afraid of the things ladies were afraid of. Not trees, not bugs, not boys, not even…pirates!

When she had been first learning to read, the son of her father's friend had given her her first book on pirates. And how fascinating it was! She would like to meet a pirate but the chances of doing so in London were quite small. Unless one wanted to kidnap her! She was important enough for a ransom wasn't she? They would steal into London in the dead of night, when everyone was sleeping and –

"Elizabeth? Ah, there you are."

She turned to face her father as her daydreams faded.

"Oh good. I see your dress is still in fine condition."

Elizabeth smiled and dropped into a curtsey. "Where are we going today?"

Weatherby kneeled down in front of his daughter. "I told you it was a surprise, but I think you'll like it."

Elizabeth smiled at her father as her governess appeared in the doorway behind them.

Weatherby stood and caught sight of her. "Ready to go then?"

"Governer Swann, with all due respect sir, I don't think…"

"Hannah, I trust you to watch her. And John and I will be there. What's the worst that could happen?"

The handkerchief in the governess's hand twisted tightly.

* * *

"Where are we going?"

"I'm not telling you."

"I want to know."

"Into the carriage miss."

Elizabeth climbed up happily and adjusted her dress and jacket as she sat. The door shut as she watched Hannah speak with their driver from the window.

"…_forward to it."_

"_It's just not appropriate what her father lets her do, John!"_

Elizabeth's brow furrowed at the muffled words. Why did every governess she had say that?

Putting it from her mind, she smiled as Hannah finally got into the carriage and her father joined them minutes later.

* * *

At twenty-eight years old Jack Sparrow was his own man. For the first time in his life he was out from under the shadow of his father. No one knew him here, no one cared that he was the only son Teague claimed as legitimate. He would earn the respect of his crew, not have it fearfully given as his birthright.

He wasn't a pirate.

He was a good man.

An _honest_ man for a change.

He had a ship, the sea, and a job; and he neither stole, bribed, nor threatened to acquire them. The East India Trading Company had offered him a new life. A decent life. He got to see the world without worrying about the Navy, he got to trade along the routes from Britain and India.

He loved the heat of India, his mother's homeland. He felt closest to her there.

And it was such a sight different from Britain as well. It was much cooler for one, and for another Ireland was much too close; it reminded him of Teague, even though the man had made his home in Madagascar and then finally, Shipwreck Cove. The latter, a place Jack vowed never to return.

Life had definitely improved.

And it would improve even more if the Company would stop sending his ship to London. He'd rather make the long voyages to the Caribbean. He'd been down there a few times, and those waters…those were a thing of pure beauty.

And the ports there were nothing like the port in London.

Extremely busy and overly congested. There were too many ships vying for such small space, to weigh anchor and find their own dock. The wait time meant more losses of full profits from damaged goods, delays, and thievery. He didn't like the crowding in the port or the Thames, it made him feel boxed in, land on every side. The _Wicked Wench_ belonged to the ocean, to the horizon. But it was his job as a merchant.

Once this job was finished, and he was back in India, maybe he'd talk with Beckett about something more permanent in the Caribbean…

* * *

"Elizabeth! Elizabeth! _Elizabeth_!"

Elizabeth found herself pulled backwards as Hannah finally managed to grab her hand.

"What?"

"How many times do I have to say to stay with me?"

Hannah looked around. _Where were John and the Governor?_

"I want to get closer to the ships!"

Elizabeth had never been this close to the London Port before. And it was magical. There were so many people running about, unloading crates and ships, moving them down the docks, repacking, and unpacking. She wanted to get closer. Wanted to see everything.

"Come on Hannah!"

"Elizabeth we have to wait for your father, it's not proper to be without chaperone, you shouldn't have run ahead like that," she scolded. Hannah twisted around to look at her surroundings. They were lost. Once the girl had realized where they were going she had bolted from the carriage the moment it stopped. Hannah had managed to keep sight of the small child as she ran through the crowds, but it was obvious Elizabeth's father had not.

"But I want to see the ships…"

"You're going to have to wait."

Elizabeth stopped trying to pull her governess and pouted. She wanted to see the ships so bad. Maybe there'd be pirates! Elizabeth looked around.

"Where's father?"

"Well if you hadn't started running, we wouldn't have lost him."

"Maybe pirates have him! And he's at the ships right now being loaded aboard, we have to save him Hannah!"

"Your father is not aboard a pirate's ship, now stop this nonsense immediately."

"Fine," said Elizabeth sullenly.

"Good. Now where could they be?"

Elizabeth watched her governess's attention drift towards the crowds. When she felt the hand holding hers loosen just a bit, she took her chance.

"Elizabeth!"

Hannah screamed as the girl wrenched her hand from hers and disappeared into the crowds.

"Elizabeth!"

Darting behind a cart, Elizabeth watched as Hannah raced by her moving hiding place. Keeping up with the cart for a while, Elizabeth eventually dated out into the crowded streets once more and headed closer and closer to water.

She'd find her father, just watch her, and she'd prove it to Hannah.

* * *

Despite any damages or thefts that might have occurred on board, if any, Jack had a talented tongue to spin any story, or haggle over any price. The speed and twists that he shifted and incorporated into his speech left buyers paying ¼ more than usual or forgiving him for a few missing spices or silks.

He didn't consider it cheating. It was a talent, and those who couldn't catch on would lose their money some other way. The rich and elite he traded to especially. They had more than enough that they wouldn't miss it. Jack's crew though, could use some extra coin in their pockets; many had families back home and even here in London.

"Captain Sparrow?"

"Aye mate?" He turned to face the approaching crewmember.

"The Dock Master is wanting to speak with you, sir."

Jack nodded and reluctantly left his post, giving orders to be followed until his return. Stepping down the _Wench_'s gangplank, he sought out the one who sent for him.

* * *

Excitement was everywhere! Elizabeth couldn't keep the smile off her face as she moved about and dodged two and fro as to not be stepped on by men moving crates and boxes. She'd narrowly avoided a cart earlier, and was resolved to pay more attention. But just look at the activity!

And the ships! She was so much closer now and they were so big. The sails towering majestically above everything and everyone, the dark wood of the hulls, flags fluttering in the wind. Just another road and she'd be on the boardwalk.

She did glance around for Hannah every one and a while, but she didn't mind walking on her own. Her father was somewhere by the docks, she just knew it, and besides she wasn't afraid.

Her eyes caught movement across and above her. Men climbing the riggings, high into the masts; she needed to be closer, she wanted to watch everything!

The loud shouts and calls around her drowned out the sound of hooves and rolling wheels as she stepped absent-mindedly into the road.

She heard not the echoing footsteps running behind her, nor the horse and carriage moving too fast through the chaos. The driver's late shout startled her around to see the animal bearing down towards her.

With barely time to scream a strong arm grasped around her waist and pulled her back clear off her feet.

"Brat! Stay on the damn walk!" The angry shouts of the driver faded as his cart pulled further away from them.

Elizabeth's heart beat frantically against her ribcage. She'd nearly…she'd nearly been crushed!

"You need to be more careful darling."

The deep voice behind her startled her out of her near crushed thoughts and back to the present. The present at which she was currently being held a foot above the ground.

Thoughts of kidnapping danced through her mind more real than ever. She shouldn't have run from Hannah, shouldn't have run from her father. Where _was_ father?

_Notscarednotscarednotscarednotscared._

No sooner had she thought it, the arm that was holding her let go and she stumbled to her feet. A hand on her shoulder balanced her and spun her around.

She stood face to chest before looking up into the darkest eyes she'd ever seen.

She felt her cheeks heat. Boys weren't supposed to be that pretty were they?

* * *

He'd nearly been too late. The girl had walked straight into the traffic, and he had broke into a run in order to catch her in time. She looked to be around ten when he could see her properly. What by Davy Jones was she doing alone?

Jack's eyes narrowed as he glanced around. "Where are your parents?" He raised an eyebrow.

Judging by the girl's clothes he assumed she had them. The lass didn't look like a stray. Far too rich-looking to be one of the street urchins that littered the alleyways.

"Um…" Elizabeth looked up and down the walk. "I…don't know…" she admitted.

Jack let out a breath. Perfect. The Dock Master was an idiot at numbers and shipment and now he's found himself a lost little girl. Wouldn't be right to leave her. Especially if it turned out she had a penchant for getting herself into trouble…

"Right then. Do you know where you are?"

Elizabeth scowled. "I know perfectly well that I'm near the docks."

Jack grinned at her scrunched up nose, mind made up. "Let's find your parents then, a girl so young shouldn't be wandering alone."

"My governess got lost."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is Mr. –"

"Captain."

_Captain?_

Elizabeth's eyes lit up with fascination as she let him guide her across the road and onto the boardwalk.

"A Captain? Are one of these ships yours?"

"Aye luv," Jack pointed out at the port, "sixth down."

Elizabeth craned her neck as the cobblestone of the street turned to wooden planks underneath her feet. Snow white sails hung tied in port, the black wood of the hull shone fresh in the sun. A black flag fluttered in the wind.

"She's an East India Company ship."

"Oh then you're…"

"A merchant."

A merchant, then. She couldn't help the slight drop in her chest, but it did lessen her chances of being kidnapped, she supposed. If her father was here somewhere, he wouldn't like that. Not at all. Even if a pirate Captain would have been exciting, a merchant Captain would do for now, and probably safer as far as her father was concerned.

Spying all the ship flags she could, she didn't see a single jolly roger. Her father was probably searching for her, and quite worried, not aboard a pirate ship like she'd thought. Her imagination did tend to run wild at times. But it wasn't nonsense.

And speaking of…

"Have you ever met a pirate?" Elizabeth looked up at her current companion.

Jack suppressed a blanch. It wasn't a question he was expecting from such a small lass, and a girl no less. But in some ways it made sense. Merchant ships did have the highest chances of being engaged by pirates.

As for if he'd met one…

He thought of Teague's blank stare, disappointment in his eyes as Jack left. The looks and whispered words throughout the Cove as he'd hoisted sail and disappeared into the horizon. The mix raced son of an Irish pirate and an Indian courtesan gone to be an honest man. Gone to cheat his station and legacy.

"No," said Jack with finality. "Can't say I have."

"I heard all sailors get attacked by pirates."

"Nothing can outrun the _Wench_."

Her face screwed up. "Excuse me?"

"It's me ship's name love. The _Wicked Wench_."

"Why would you name a ship _that_?"

Jack smiled at her prissy discomfort and turned to pick her up. He couldn't help laughing at her undignified squawk as he set her up to sit on the railing separating dock from water.

"If you're ever lost darling, stay in one spot. And right here seems well enough. Along the main stretch and high up, easily seen if one is walking and searching for you."

Elizabeth placed her hands on the wood below to anchor herself.

"They should come soon."

"I have no doubt of it, most likely frantic."

Elizabeth bit her lip. She'd seen her father worked into a panic before during one of her daring escapes. But this time she wasn't playing make-believe somewhere on the estate grounds. She was in public.

"Are you staying?" she asked curiously. Surely she could trust her rescuer.

"What type of man would I be to leave a young lass all by her lonesome?"

She felt her face start to heat again, and dropped her gaze. When her eyes fell on his hands, she blinked.

"Is that a tattoo?" she asked distracting herself. She'd never seen one in real life before. A lot of the pirates in her books were completely decorated in tattoos. Though they were much larger than this.

Jack looked down at the number '3' inked between his left thumb and index finger.

"It is."

"Why a three?"

Jack looked out to the water. It was to honour his mother and her traditions. Even though her devotion had been to Shiva, Jack had wanted a reminder of all three gods. Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva. Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer.

"No reason," he answered. "Just liked the number."

"Did it hurt?"

"There are worse things."

"What –"

"ELIZABETH!"

They both turned their heads towards the scream, and watched a white-faced frantic woman come rushing down the deck.

"I cannot believe you would just run off like that! You could have been abducted! You can have been hurt! I could lose my job!"

"Hannah, I'm…"

Elizabeth let out a little yelp as she was pulled off the deck's rail and set on her feet; Hannah's hands running over her checking for wounds.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Are you injured."

"No."

"Are you wounded?"

"They're the same thing!"

"She's all right miss."

Hannah startled, her wide eyes seeking out Jack, noticing him for the first time.

"A-and on what authority do you have that?" she stammered out.

Jack held up his hands in surrender and took a step back. Never get between a terrified, irate woman with a child, it only leads to slapping. And accusations.

"Just that she wasn't sitting there long."

"Sit – " Hannah spun Elizabeth around to look at her coat and dress, checking for dirt and grime.

"Good day, Elizabeth."

She heard his voice once more, but when she turned, he had vanished.

Furrowing her brows in confusion Elizabeth looked around everywhere.

He was gone.

And now she realized, much too late, that she'd never even asked his name. Maybe manners would be the least that Hannah and her father would ask about?

But where?

How could someone disappear like that? Was he a spectre? A ghost, maybe? A wandering spirit protecting the lost?

He did save her life earlier. Maybe…maybe she had a guardian angel?

She let her mind run, if she had a _pirate_ guardian angel…now _that _would be even _better_.

Elizabeth smiled to herself. She could have her dreams.

* * *

"Elizabeth!" a shriek ran out. Jack turned from his brisk walk to see the girl running again through the crowds, frantic governess trailing after her.

"_Come on Hannah! I saw treasure when I came this way!"_

"_Elizabeth, stop!"_

Jack smiled to himself. Such spirit, such determination, an inquisitive imp, and not afraid in the least; she was a cute lass and a hand full from the look of it.

_That's the type of girl_, he thought, _that_ _when she grows up, God help the man who falls in love with her…_

* * *

A/N: And here I thought "A Caged Swann" would be my only Pirates fic! Shows what I know doesn't it? There will be a Chapter 2 to this fic, set AU AWE. Jack and Liz find out that they've met before. It will definitely be Sparrabeth in nature. 


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Crossroads  
Author: Vee017  
Genre: AU, Gen (Chapter 1), Romance (Chapter 2)  
**Setting: post-AWE**  
**Rating: PG-15 for sexually suggestive themes.**  
Summary: What if Jack and Elizabeth had met before? Before Port Royal, before the Wench became the Pearl…

At twenty-three years old, Captain Elizabeth Swann had sailed the world. She had crossed oceans, braved storms, and faced the undead – living skeletons and Davy Jones. She had betrayed and been betrayed. She'd been loved by three men; and like Calypso, she had ripped out their hearts.

But she had sailed to World's End to retrieve the one that meant the most.

James and Will, gone now from this earth with forgiveness and understanding. Both of them having a job to do, and dying to do it. Though for Will, it became eternity.

She'd been engaged twice, broken them twice. She had been married and widowed both in a single day.

If it hadn't been for Will setting her free and telling her what was truly in her heart, she'd have lived but half a life, even less, waiting for a single day each decade; a life that would have left her hollow.

But afterwards, here and now, Shipwreck Cove had become a second home. The capital city of her kingdom as Pirate King.

How had she come to this?

Where she'd been before Jack Sparrow was entirely different after Jack Sparrow. And in its own end he had given her one of the things she had always truly craved: Freedom.

And Will had let her keep it.

Widowed from her marriage, free to make her way in a world she had dreamed of since childhood. She was Pirate King, and lover to a Pirate Lord.

The future was laid out before her.

Shedding her dark clothes, Elizabeth climbed between the cool sheets of her bed. The softness of it always surprised her, but she quickly let it soothe, as did the waves heard from the open window as she fell into a state of half-dreams; safe in this fortress and unafraid.

* * *

At forty-four years old, Jack Sparrow stood where he had once sworn never to return. And he stood there as something he swore he would never become. 

_Pirate._

Just like his father. The spitting image, almost.

The world was a cruel and harsh place that took good men and twisted them into bitter self-loathing replicas of who they had once been. All hope, all optimism for a life that could have been his was gone with the first flames that scorched the _Wench_'s hull so many years ago.

Her sinking, his desperation, his idiocy.

Did a good deed, and it all came back to haunt him. It would be a trait that would get him time and time again; something that he never learned from; no matter what. The honest streak that just wouldn't let him commit to being a pirate through and through. Even if it meant being chained to a mast to face the Kraken, to go down with a ship that had sunk beneath the waves thirteen years before.

But the decisions that had led him here, he couldn't come to regret. Well, except that one with Jones, but really, what choice had he had?

He would never regret freeing the slaves Beckett had him transporting. Men and women were born free, there would be no shackles binding them in servitude.

Some of Jack's crew hadn't agreed though apparently. So when Beckett found out, Jack faced it alone. The pain that laced through his whole body at the first touch of the brand he would never forget. Nor the stench of burnt human flesh. The scuffle that had later ensued and the jagged wound cut deep into his left forearm, revenge for his lasting mark on Beckett, one that the latter would never forget nor ever speak of.

He had ordered Jack, bloodied and half-conscious, dragged aboard the _Wench_ as it was set aflame and sunk. What else could he have done but call on Davy Jones? He didn't honestly think he would come.

Nor that it would finally be over. Jones and Beckett, gone both at once, reminders of one of the darkest moments in his past.

He really was free now; completely this time. Chained to nothing and no one.

Except her.

Trailing a ringed hand over a rail that now served as a balcony, Jack watched the hall below.

He couldn't wait to be back on the open water, to show Elizabeth the wonders of the horizon, the things he'd seen. And this time, they had no deadline. There was no rush. And it was just as well since the _Pearl_ was still in need of repairs, and Elizabeth had a few more duties to learn as King before they could sail. And he had duties to her.

A match struck behind him.

Making a face, Jack knew this was coming. From their brief talk at the Brethren Court, he knew there would be another sooner or later.

"Only you could get into so much trouble Jackie."

"You make it sound like 'm incapable."

"Hardly," said Teague. Pushing off from the wall he had leaned against, he moved until he stood next to his wayward son. "Plenty capable. Just too trusting when you shouldn't."

"I believe Barbossa cured me of that…somewhat anyway. Completely now for sure anyhow."

"Too young to know better. Out of piracy for too long."

Jack breathed deeply and let it out. There it was.

"I didn't want it."

"You used to."

"She's gone."

"I know."

Jack turned towards his father to find the older man already looking at him; the smoke from his pipe trailing in the air between them.

"You're my son, Jackie."

"You have plenty o' spawn litterin' up the place," Jack waved a hand around. "What makes me so special?"

"You were first."

"That doesn' make a lick of difference."

"I loved your mother. Married her, even. You were the only child we had. The difficulty of your birth should have foreshadowed the trouble you'd cause."

"Probably."

"Your brothers and sisters," continued Teague, "their mothers, I'm fond of them yes, but love? No. Not after your mother."

Jack opened his mouth to respond but Teague beat him to it.

"Could you see another woman after Elizabeth?"

Jack's mouth closed. He refused to imagine it; and after they found the Fountain of Youth, he would never have to worry about it. Now that he'd finally managed to win her, he'd be damned back to the Locker if he ever lost her. Literally, if young, immortal William was so in the mood…

"When you left…" continued his father, "it was like losing your mother all over again."

"Couldn't have been that traumatic..." Jack muttered soberly. Her death was not something he liked to dwell on, even some twenty-nine years later.

"You're all I have left of her."

"And what a fine disappointment I am." Jack turned to leave, his false drunken swagger fully in place; a shield against the world around him.

"Not a disappointment. Never that."

Jack stopped but didn't turn. "Seemed like it enough."

"Disappointed in meself for pushing you away," said Teague. "Not all is as it appears. You know that more than anyone."

"Pirating _is_ a bit easier when everyone thinks you're a joke."

"Successful, isn't it?"

Jack turned enough to look at his father.

"Go back to your girl, lad. A new reason for piracy."

Jack smiled lightly.

"That she is."

* * *

Talks with his father left him exhausted. He could barely remember a time when they had last seen eye to eye on a matter. He was older, he'd lived longer, he knew better, and Jack was always too young. Far, far too young. 

Walking the labyrinthine corridors of the Cove, it was amazing how easily the route to his old room came back to him. Even after all these years away, it was second nature still.

Pushing the wooden door open, Jack entered and took in the surroundings. Nothing had been changed. Nothing had been moved. It was all as he remembered.

Well except one thing.

Slipping off his jacket, he hung it on the hook near the wall. His belts came next, placed on the desk still cluttered with shells and maps. He took hardly any care where the rest of his clothing went; he'd find them in the morning with first light. He slipped beneath the light blanket.

Reaching across Elizabeth's waist, Jack pulled her naked back against his chest and slept.

* * *

The day was clear when the _Pearl_ was finally seaworthy. She was still a beauty of a ship, just as beautiful as the day Jack first saw her in Calcutta. 

He stood at the helm watching the ship cut sharply through the waves. She was where she belonged. _He _was where he belonged. The open air, the open ocean - there was nothing like it in the world. If he hadn't been so angry in his youth, he might not have ever left it.

But then, who knew what kind of a man he would have become?

Teague, of course, had an opinion on the matter, but then what did he not have an opinion on? He had sought Jack out a few more times during his son's stay at Shipwreck Cove, as he had Elizabeth. The girl had taken to him easily, eagerly taking in whatever wisdom he had to impart, which made successfully pawning her off on the old man and making his escape all the more simple for Jack.

Speaking of the girl.

Elizabeth had come onto deck and was making her way to the portside of the ship. Still wearing the Chinese style clothing she was a vision. Handing the helm to Gibbs, Jack headed down the stairs towards her.

* * *

Elizabeth watched the hull cut through the waves. Water crashed against dark wood, and she could very well feel the spray from the water, taste the salt in the air. 

She smiled as a strong arm came to wrap around her waist and pull her back against a surprisingly strong chest. The wiry play of muscle beneath his shirts fascinated her to no end, as did discovering the foray of tattoos decorating his arms and chest. Symbols and scrolls; words written in Sanskrit above his heart.

His cheekbones and fine bone structure gave him away as exotic but she'd never known how much until her talks with Teague. If he wasn't instructing her in the ways of the Pirate King and the Code, his favourite subject had been Jack, though his son would never know it, but there was a very subtle sadness when he talked that confused her.

She liked Jack's father. He'd accepted her without hesitation and treated her like his own. In some ways he reminded her of her own father, now passed on, reunited with her mother in death. It was a pain that would take time to heal; there had been so much loss. But those who surrounded her helped her to bear it.

Smiling bittersweetly, she wondered how her father would have gotten on with Teague; the man who had fathered Jack Sparrow.

"You're thinking hard."

The deep voice behind her brought her out of her reverie and to the present. Jack was solid behind her, grounding her.

"I am. Distract me?"

"Well now darling, that is certainly something…" his hand splayed out seductively across her belly, "…that I am _very_ capable of doing."

She nudged him with her elbow. "That is not what I meant."

"Then the lady should be more clear in her intentions."

"What did your father want to talk to you about so much?"

Jack wrinkled his nose. "Besides me wayward youth?"

Elizabeth smiled. Exactly what she needed to get her mind off of sad topics – trying to picture Jack Sparrow at her age. She knew he had to be at least twice as old as she was, having captained the _Pearl_ long before she had set out from England.

"What possibly could you have done to make you 'wayward' from a pirate's standpoint? You're a bit unorthodox but still the most wanted out of all the Pirate Lords. I imagine you were out there with the best of them, looting and pillaging your whole life."

"You'd be surprised, luv."

She scoffed. "Try me. There isn't anything the great Jack Sparrow could say that could surprise me. Not anymore."

"The great_ Captain _Jack Sparrow, if you please darling. And you wouldn't believe me if I told you," he insisted.

"As I said. Try me."

Jack breathed deeply. The scent of her hair mixed with the ocean; reaching up he grasped the thong that kept her hair bound and pulled it free. Blonde strands fell over Elizabeth's shoulders, free in the wind. He preferred it loose; wild and bright as the woman herself.

"There was a time…" he started. "…a time when I ran from it all."

She was going to comment on how very like him it was, but something in his tone stopped her.

"Jack?" Her hand rested on his, where he had reset it below her breasts.

"I had no idea where I was going after certain…events…and Teague…well, let's jus' say it was near to when I first met Beckett."

"Oh."

"Not all that interesting anyway. You one the other hand, m'dear, I'm sure have many a story."

Elizabeth smiled. "I went through so many governesses as a child. I was a right terror. Ripping my dresses, coming home caked in mud, keeping spiders in my pockets."

Jack grinned. "I don't doubt it."

"I still remember one incident. I had gotten lost, and my governess had very nearly had a heart attack."

"And where'd she lose you darling? Playing hide and seek without the poor lass knowing?"

"No, of course not. Though…that's another story."

Jack snorted.

"Oh hush! I got lost in London…"

"London? Exactly how old are we talking Elizabeth?"

"I wasn't hurt, or alone for very long! My governess checked me over quite thoroughly when she finally found me."

"London?"

"The Port. My father took me down there as a surprise and I was maybe a bit too excited."

A memory triggered and Jack's brow furrowed. A lost little girl nearly run over by a horse and cart flashed through his mind…he blinked. How long ago had that been now?

"You were what? Ten, eleven?"

"More likely nine, but around that age, yes," she said obliviously.

Jack stared at the woman in his arms. There was no way…surely there were many young, expensively dressed (as he recalled) girls with panicked women running after them at the port…

"I met a man, a merchant I think. Called his ship the silliest thing…"

Jack swallowed. "And what would that be?"

"Called it the _Wench_."

Bloody. Hell.

"Jack?"

Elizabeth's brow furrowed as she felt the pirate go tense and still behind her.

"The _Wicked Wench_?"

She turned in his arms to face him. "You know that ship?"

Jack stared.

Huh.

Well now.

"I also suppose that an…" he cleared his throat. "…extremely handsome yet impressionable young Captain of the East India Company pulled you out of the way of a cart as well."

"I – yes…but, how did you –"

She glared as Jack held up a finger to silence her. She remembered that horse and cart, she remembered being lifted up off her feet and out of the way, she remembered…

"And in regards to the _Wench_, love." He stepped back away from her, arms sweeping out grandly. "You're standing on it."

"What? But it belonged to…"

"It belonged to _me_."

"But…what…"

His? How could it have been his? She…she remembered the man. Young, handsome, well-kept, he was…dark-eyed…and…

A sudden thought darted into her head as she made a grab for his hand. They were marred with dirt and grime but she knew what she was looking for. Spitting on her own hand she worked the dirt clear from Jack's searching for a tattoo she had spotted over a decade ago.

There. Inked permanently between thumb and forefinger. Running her thumb over the familiar '3' dumbfoundedly, she looked up at Jack.

Her mouth opened and closed. It was…it couldn't, it…it…

"It was you."

Memories from far away came rushing back at her. Being pulled out of harm's way in the safety of his arms, feeling the beginnings of a girlhood crush, the man who wouldn't leave her side until she'd been reunited with her governess. How he'd just seemed to disappear into thin air…

Squinting her eyes, she tried hard to reconcile the young merchant in her mind with the dread-locked pirate in front of her. He'd been so…clean. Respectable. When the hell had _Jack Sparrow_ been a _merchant_? Or had he been parading as one?

A new thought hit her.

Dropping his hand, she balled hers in a fist and hit him square in the shoulder.

"You told me you'd never met a pirate!" snapped Elizabeth crossly.

"Bloody hell, it _was_ you." He rubbed his shoulder.

"Jack!"

"What was I supposed to say?"

"I can't believe you!"

"_Pirate_."

"You weren't one then!"

"I was…" he protested. "I'd just quit for a little while, savvy?"

"What? No. Were you or weren't you? What do you mean _quit_? And where are you going?"

His retreating back halted and he turned to face her. "Tis not the sort of conversation to have on deck, luv."

Elizabeth looked around at a few milling crew members who were pretending not to listen to her raised voice. Huffing, she followed Jack into the _Pearl_'s interior to his cabin.

* * *

Jack dropped his coat and hat onto the table that took up the center of the room. The rum on the shelf was quickly in his hand. 

"I can't believe any of this," Elizabeth muttered behind him, shutting the door with a half-hearted snap.

He watched Elizabeth drop herself into a chair and play with a seam on his abandoned coat.

"I would've recognized you sooner Lizzie, but…" his hand motioned at her up and down.

How time had changed her. What had it done to turn her from that imp-y little creature to the woman sitting before him? But that spirit…that curious, inquisitive, spark that he had seen then was still shining just as brightly.

"You told me you'd never met a pirate."

"Again, what was I supposed to say? At the time all I thought about in that context was Teague. An' we weren't exactly on speakin' terms."

"Why not?"

"That's another story."

"Were you honestly a merchant?"

"Honestly." He took a swig from the bottle. "Surprising isn't it? That I once had an honest life, nothing to do with piracy?"

"But you're father…"

"Is a pirate," he finished for her. "I was born into it, lived it, loved it, lost it, left it."

"Why?"

"That's another story."

"Like the last one?" she asked, raising a brow.

"More like the same," he said soberly.

She watched him carefully. Elizabeth had always known that there was more than one side to Jack Sparrow. She had seen him cowardly, she had seen him brave. She'd seen the drunken swagger, and she'd seen him shed it all for an uncharacteristic seriousness. The first time when they were stuck on that island, she'd asked him if there was any truth to the stories about him. She suspected the scars she had seen that day were only a few of many. And she'd been right; since then she'd seen them all. All the physical ones anyway.

"What happened to you Jack?"

"Couldn't resist that damn honest streak," he said, self-depreciating smile in place.

Elizabeth's fingers had left the coat seam and circled around a button.

She heard him sigh. "I was young, and extremely stupid."

"Is that…is that how you met Beckett?"

"Aye."

Jack wandered over to her and sat in the chair next to hers, placing the bottle of rum on the table between them.

"In my younger years, after I left Shipwreck Cove, I wanted to start over, for reasons that are…"

"Another story."

"Very good," he said. "I signed up with the East India Company, transported spices and silks for the most part between India and Britain, I'd been to the Caribbean a few times and would have preferred to work from there. Be careful what you wish for Lizzie-love, I learned that the hard way."

"How?" she prompted.

"Slaves." His eyes met hers. "'Bout a year after I met you, Beckett had me transport slaves. They were to be dropped in the Caribbean and instead I freed them back in Africa. Beckett found out, braded me a pirate, and sunk the _Wench_. That's when I made my deal with Jones. When he raised her back from the depths I re-christened her."

"The _Black Pearl_."

"Only seemed right. And that my dear, is how an honest young merchant was once again thrown into a life of piracy."

He picked up the rum bottle and took a good drink.

"And here I was hoping to get my mind off of sad times," she said, watching him. There'd been too many of them, she should have known the past would bring more and all the more tragic.

But it did prove what she had known all along: Jack Sparrow was a good man. The pirate brand undeserved, yet marking him everyday after for doing the right thing. He believed in freedom above all else. No one had the right to own a fellow human being.

Burned for doing the right thing. It hurt her to see the start of that pattern, and her own part in continuing it when the Kraken…

A hand on her cheek brought her out of her thoughts.

"Well darling, it would seem that our very first meeting was much like our other first meeting in Port Royal."

Elizabeth smiled.

She laughed. "Was there ever a time when you were not saving me?"

"Course not, though my greatest achievement was saving you from that damned corset."

"It was rather tight that day."

"S'not right to trap you in one of those things."

"Not like I wear them anymore."

Jack grinned. "Ah yes."

"Jack."

"Ah yes, yes, right. Serious conversation." He dropped his grin and stared at her until she laughed, Jack joining her soon after.

"I just…I can't…I can't believe I met you then."

"Funny place, the world."

"Jack. Where did you go? It was like you'd just disappeared, I turned and you were gone."

"You forget darling…"

"That you're Captain Jack Sparrow, I know. But honestly?"

"Blended in with the crowd, kept moving. Believe I saw you running away from your governess again though, something about treasure."

Elizabeth laughed. "Some jewelry being sold if I remember."

Jack nodded.

"The woman was panicked. Thought it best I not stay around."

She sighed, easily imagining the things Hannah must have thought. Finding her young charge accompanied by a strange man. As innocent as it was, she might not have thought so.

"I thought…it's going to sound silly, but when you were gone so quickly, I thought you might have been a ghost of somesort, guiding the lost."

He smiled.

"And then…then I thought that maybe you were my guardian angel."

"Who says I'm not?"

"_And._ I thought that a pirate guardian angel would be so much better."

"Well here I am darling, now what are you going to do with this angel?"

"You are no angel Jack Sparrow."

"_Captain_. And you just said I was."

"I said I _thought _you were. Obviously I didn't know you very well, I was just a small girl."

"With impeccable taste."

"With delusions."

He saluted her with the rum and took another drink.

She watched him, the trinkets in his knotted hair jingled faintly against each other and she tried to imagine him as he once was. The image in her mind wasn't as crystal clear as it had been. But his hair had once been smooth and tied back entirely out of his face. No jewels woven in, no bandana draped across his forehead. No kohl had lined his eyes. No beads or braids.

Pirate to merchant, and back to pirate.

What had happened to drive him from piracy to begin with she'd get out of him sooner or later. But for now, like he'd said, that was another story.

"Do you miss it?" she asked.

Jack shook his head and set the rum down. "It was honest, but it was still living under another's rule. I can sail where ever I want. And all the reasons I can think of for piracy now, you're the best one."

"Flatterer," she accused lightly. "You've always been there though. Every single time."

An arm found its way around her shoulders. "Then I think you should thank me for being there, every single time."

Elizabeth smiled and stood tugging on his arm until he followed. "Should I?"

Turning, she pressed against him until the back of his legs hit the bed. With one good push she had him sprawled over the mattress.

"This isn't the way I meant love," he said moving up towards the pillows.

"It's entirely what you meant."

He grinned. "Imp."

"_King_," she corrected.

"My apologies, _King_ Imp."

"I ought to leave you there."

"I'm being thanked."

Climbing up onto the bed, Elizabeth brought her lips to his and kissed the stupid grin off his face quite effectively.

Her lips, soft and smooth. The spirit behind them, strong and fierce like the woman she had become. No longer the little girl he had met so briefly all those years ago. This woman was a pirate, his King, and he her ever faithful servant and consort.

A brief thought bubbled up, words from so long ago burning in recollection.

_When she grows up, God help the man who falls in love with her..._

And he'd been right.

God help him, he'd been right.

END.

* * *

A/N: And it is finished! You guys are amazing. Thank you.  



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